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Liverpool and Chelsea made it 5 out of 5 in an amazing start to the campaign. Jurgen Klopp’s side presented its title credentials at the Wembley where they defeated the perennial underachievers of the League named Tottenham. Tottenham’s early season promise has fizzled out quickly and to say that they can challenge for the title would be too optimistic.
Eden Hazard's hat-trick secured a 4-1 comeback win over Cardiff City for Chelsea. Maurizio Sarri even went ahead in the press conference and said that Hazard is the best player in Europe currently. Arsenal beat Newcastle United 2-1, Manchester City had a routine 3-0 win over Fulham, and Manchester United got a morale-boosting win over high flying Watford City.
Bournemouth won impressively against a returning Jamie Vardy and Leicester City with a 4-2 scoreline while Zaha’s wonder goal gave Crystal Palace a much-needed victory over Huddersfield Town.
Watford had a chance to go top of the table with Chelsea and Liverpool but they were facing a United team with lots to prove and Mourinho’s men really showed up. In the late fixture of Sunday, Marco Silva lost his first match as Everton manager against West Ham United. Manuel Pellegrini is a relieved man after getting his first win of the season.
Here we take a look at the Top 5 picks of the Premier League weekend.
#1 Best Player – Eden Hazard
Maurizio Sarri’s press conference revealed what he thinks about the Chelsea star when he said he is the best player in Europe. The Belgian scored a hat-trick as Chelsea came from behind and defeated Cardiff city to go top of the table.
Hazard scored twice in 7 minutes before halftime. He scored his third from a penalty when Sol Bamba brought down Willian late in the second half.
Saturday's victory means Chelsea have started a Premier League season with five successive wins for the fourth time, and first since 2010. And all credit goes to Eden Hazard, who with his 5 goals has given rest to rumours that he is not happy at Chelsea.
Honourable mentions in this category would be that of Andriy Yarmolenko who scored twice against Everton to give the Hammers their first win of the season.
#2 Best Goal – Wilfried Zaha
Roy Hodgson has a headache this season to make his team aware of the fact that only Zaha’s performance will not keep them afloat in the Premier League.
Zaha made Huddersfield pay for wasting too many chances by scoring in style just before the halftime. He got past several Terriers defenders before slotting home past Jonas Lossl.
The Ivory Coast forward has three goals this season and this looks like the season where he will finally get a good offer from a bigger club.
Hodgson is worried the Eagles have an over-reliance on their star man and said that his team has to perform better as a whole unit.
Honourable mention in this category would be Granit Xhaka’s excellent free-kick against Newcastle United.
#3 Best Manager – Manuel Pellegrini
The early season troubles for Pellegrini and West Ham seemed to go away when they faced Everton at Goodison Park. Andriy Yarmolenko struck twice for his new club and Marko Arnautovic added a third as the visitors inflicted the first defeat on Marco Silva’s side.
Credit should go to Pellegrini to stick to his plans and motivating the players during this time of need. It was a good present for Pellegrini’s 65th birthday as his team showed incisiveness and commitment.
Honourable mention would go to Unai Emery for his tactical substitution of bringing in Lucas Torreira in for Guendouzi which changed the way Gunners played.
#4 Best Match – Watford 1-2 Manchester United
In a display of class and ruthlessness, Manchester United showed in 15 minutes before the halftime when they literally toyed with the Watford defence. Paul Pogba enjoyed the advantage of United having an extra man in midfield which gave him the freedom to roam freely and have an impact on the game.
Just like the previous matches of the season, the United defence gave some nervy moments to Mourinho and it was De Gea’s brilliant goalkeeping that made the result in United’s favour.
Lukaku, Pogba and Sanchez missed a lot of chances which made the match an exciting one to watch till the end.
Honourable mention here would go to the Bournemouth vs Leicester City match which saw a crazy scoreline.
#5 Masterstroke of the weekend – Unai Emery
Torreira was widely expected to start at Newcastle, but once again he was left on the bench, with Emery opting for Guendouzi and Xhaka in midfield. But it took courage for a manager to replace a performing player after halftime as he wanted a result at St James’s Park.
We have seen it quite a few times this season that Unai Emery is not afraid to make big decisions and he showed the same during the win at Newcastle. Arsenal fans are hoping Unai prefers to start Lucas in next week’s fixture against Everton at the Emirates.
